The Tale of Caran Elenath
by the Red Nothing
Summary: ( Contains characters borrowed (with permission) from Dragonfire's The Coming of The Throne) The tale of a prankster who was something more all the long -just needed a chance to show it. ~*COMPLETE*~
1. Birth ~ To Enjoy One's Time To The Fulle...

****

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I only own Caran, and maybe a few random Elves and "the thing." Legolas, Thranduil, and most other characters belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, wheras Shiara, Linel, and Galier belong to Dragonfire-sama, who has graciously let me use them. Arigatou!! ^.^ 

~*~

  
  
_It is told that in the forests of Mirkwood, at the beginning of the Fourth Age, there was a great ruler by the name of King Legolas Greenleaf. Legolas had earned his fame during the War of the Ring, a member of the Fellowship itself. To the Fellowship of the Ring Legolas brought Elven skill in archery and tracking, and indeed, he was a valuable asset to the Company.  
  
However, after maintaining the peace of Mirkwood for many a year, Legolas Greenleaf at last went to the Gray Havens to sail off unto the Undying Lands, forever in peace with those of his kind, and his dear Dwarf-friend Gimli, and his wife of endless beauty.  
  
But, left behind was his daughter, now grown well and wise to rule the Silvan land of Mirkwood in her father's stead. Caran Greenleaf became as wise and feared a ruler as her father, if not more so, as skilled in tracking and archery as any male of her kind.   
  
Yet, though 'twas perhaps not a predominate question on the Elves' fair minds, they did wonder: Why had the Wise King Legolas of the Fellowship choosen the name Caran for his only heir? It had once been quite a common name, meaning only a common color, nothing noble or brave about it._

Yet finally, as the winds of the question reached the keen ears of the ancient Elf Galier, the Elves of Mirkwood would have their answer to their petty question at last. In the days of old, before the Fellowship, when the Old King Legolas had been still young, yet no longer a child; When he and his wife were not yet married, nor even betrothed, but the greatest of friends in a group of two other Elves, there had been an Elven girl. The girl was quite young, five hundred years old at the eldest, still a child. But oh! She had a wit about her! And the Elven girl with burgundy locks and e'er sparkling eyes would cease little in her undying quest for mischief -and adventure. In the Elven Prince Legolas and his first Company of Friends she found a place to confide, away from the stern gaze of her far elders and, in their own firm-set minds, betters.   
  
Of these four friends of old, Galier was the last remaining that had not crossed to the Undying Lands. He alone remembered the tale of the Elven girl that the King had loved as a kin he had never had, and of her fate, and of the reason why the name of the new Queen was not a common name at all, but a name that sung of unsung courage long-forgotten, a glorious and precious name indeed.   
  
Galier, son of Ithilgaer the Flameshot, High Member of the Council of Elders, was the last Elf in Middle-Earth who could well recall  
  
**The Tale of Caran Elenath**  
  
**~Part One~**  
  
In the great eating hall of King Thranduil, Elven King of Northern Mirkwood, silence reigned. Not a Man, nor Dwarf, nor Elf nor even Halfling roamed or occupied the immense room.   
  
Save for one.  
  
The girl Caran Elenath, Daughter of No One, sat huddled in a corner of the great Dining Hall, Elvish ears a-twitch with anticipation. She had her trap set well, aye, and, as she shifted into the folds of the simple spell cast to make her less noticable, she knew she had not much time to wait before her quarry was to arrive, and she prayed it be a good quarry at that.  
  
The door to the Dining Hall glided open on silent hinges, and Caran swallowed, hard.   
  
Standing in the entranceway was none other than the king Thranduil himself, adorned in his finest robes! At first, the small girl shivered, but quickly began to rub her delicate fingers together in impish glee.

Oh, this was to be a great quarry, indeed!  
  
Caran could barely stifle a snicker as the golden-haired monarch advanced elegantly and deliberately toward the table filled with pasties; Their Great Leader was as much of a glutton as Cuindhaer himself! Her green-flecked eyes sparkled mirthfully as the king's hands hesitantly passed above each of the fine foods presented before him upon the oakwood table... Now if he would just touch a thread... Aye, if just a nail were to ghost past a silver string...  
  
'CRASH!!!'   
  
'CARAN ELENATH!!!'   
  
If there should have been any more present than the king and the orphaned Elf-child, which, as I have already noted, there was not, I should think some would have sworn upon their very lives that Thranduil's deep, accusing cry echoed about the walls before the mounds and mounds of fresh pastry filling that had been concealed within the ceiling-beams had touched a hair upon his head. And yet, furthermore, there would most likely be a collective, unanimous oath that Caran Elenath The Nuisance -as was her "proper" title- had sprung nimbly forth from her hiding spot and had sprinted out the door before either of these events had occurred.  
  
She charged through the corridors, corridors filled with the curses of the nigh-always calm leader, expertly dodging Elves in her path left and right, quickly murmuring apologies, when she had the mind to bother. Many, indeed, most, of the mystical creatures watched her with faces set ascowl, but a few let a smile cross their fine lips, as the (mostly) innocent antics of the young rascal had a tendency to raise the spirits of even the serious Elven-folk.   
  
Bark-like red-brown hair chasing behind her as she whipped about a corner, Caran found herself face-to-face with none other than Galier Crossback, an overly-serious youngish Elf who expressed interest in joining the king's great guard itself, and a dear friend to the Prince, Legolas.   
  
'Oh, suilad, friend Linel!' Caran said brightly, eyes darting back and forth in search of a favorable escape route.

Instead of a warm reply, Galier addressed the younger Elf in a commanding tone. 'Caran Elenath, what hast thou done this time?'  
  
She blinked incredulously at his accusation, eyes shimmering with the very light of innocence. 'Why, friend Galier , whatever dost thou mean?'   
  
The tall Elf's eyes burned into Caran. 'Thou art no friend of mine, Caran Elena-'  
  
'That shall be quite enough, Galier Crossback!'  
  
'Friend Legolas!' Caran exclaimed. She scrambled from Galier to the more favorable Prince's side before an owl could have blinked an eye, hiding behind his back, peering out cautiously at the nigh-speechless soldier-in-training.   
  
Legolas allowed himself a warm smile as he ruffled the young Elf's hair fondly. 'Suilad, mellon Caran.' 

This was one of the greatest reasons why all in the kingdom had so rarely reprimanded, if reprimanded at all, the mischievous little villain for her deeds: The Prince had taken to the girl like kin, calling her "friend", and laughing joyously whenever she recounted her tales of mischief, often in a rather animated manner. The Prince's close friends, Shiara and Linel, also grew to love Caran as a younger sister, and at times even Galier could tolerate her antics. But another reason her punishment was never to be any greater than some dislike in the minds of elders was perhaps that few possessed the heart to come down upon her. Caran may have verily been a "magnet for trouble", but her heart was ever in the right place. Caran's parents had been murdered by Orcs only two-hundred-and-fifty years ago, leaving her an orphan. It was then that Legolas and his companions had noticed her, and had as such "taken her in." She had always longed for adventure, but, due to her size and age, had never been permitted to leave the confines of the castle, or wander far from them in the case that she had a responsible escort. Because of this, she had burned, hearing Orc-cries at night, wanting naught more than to slaughter... But soon, she chose to turn to jests and pranks to still her desire of bloodshed, and it had worked well.  
  
Although, though no one but themselves were ever to know it, Prince Legolas and his small company had instructed her well in the ways of the bow and the woods, and her skills were growing quite impressive, though the four prayed the need would never arise for her to use them. 

Yet sometimes, Legolas could see that fire in her young eyes, burning...   
  
'Legolas!' Galier bellowed, snapping the prince out of his reverie. He heard Caran give a slight giggle at his stunned expression, but smiled and turned his head to Galier as he continued to rave on.   
  
'Legolas, do you not hear the cries of thine father?! He shall have your head, and this beast's as well!' Both Prince and child took this remark as seriously as if Galier had just said that there were a band of dragons and Wargs playing tenpins just 'round the brush, wearing red polka-dotted blindfolds and merrily humming limericks.   
  
'Friend Linel,' Legolas said quietly, 'you know well of Young Caran's nature; Do not trouble her because of it, for indeed, it is a blockade to far worse things this child could find in herself to do!' Galier blinked -his Prince spoke ill as such quite rarely- but did not speak.  
  
Legolas then turned and kneeled before the child, who was acting as though the last comment had not been made, placing a brotherly hand atop her head. 'Caran, I shall do my stop my father's wild onslaught. In the meantime, I suggest that you "visit" Friend Shiara, nay?' The fair-skinned Prince voiced the word "visit" as if it were to mean, "hide for your very life" as he gave a tiny wink.   
  
Understanding immediately, Caran grinned broadly at the Prince before bolting through the corridors once more, calling back over her shoulder:  
  
'I thank thee, Brother Legolas, and may your days always be ever-filled with joy!' 


	2. Life ~ To Find The Sun And Set It A-Shin...

**__**

The Tale of Caran Elenath   
  
  
**~Part Two~**  
  
  
Caran Elenath was giggling merrily as she recounted her tale to a half-amused, half-horrified Shiara in the latter's fine Elven quarters, the former's eyes, as always, alight. One of the few things Caran enjoyed as much as setting up and pulling off her traps was telling others of their brilliant success (provided they did indeed succeed, which they nearly always did, but if by chance they did not, the elders would be slightly amused to find Caran The Nuisance strangely quiet).  
  
'Tis so! I narry have dreamed that I should think of any sort of jest that would bring such glee! And yet!' Caran crowed as she sprung atop Shiara's bed, bouncing, most un-Elvish behavior. 'And yet, who should come across mine cunning trap other than the King Thranduil himself!' Shiara sighed, trying to act as an example by giving Caran a stern gaze, whereas in fact it was all Shiara herself could do to hide her smile.   
  
'I pray thee listen, Caran Elenath,' she said firmly in her lovely voice that sung even as she spoke, 'though your "jests" as you do call them, may be quite "gleeful", they _are_ to get you into trouble one of these days, aye, and soon!'   
  
Now, Shiara had already prepared herself for the torrent of giggles and brush-offs that always occurred whenever Caran was reproached for her deeds like this, followed by a confident stride out of the room and a severely irked cry from some elder normally less than an hour later, but instead, there came none of these things at all. Mildly surprised, Shiara turned her head about and saw the young girl staring out the window distractedly, out at Mirkwood, out o'er the trees...  
  
'Young Caran,' Shiara pressed as she slowly came forward, 'what troubles thee?'  
  
Caran's voice held no mirth as she spoke; Eerie, odd for such a joyous child, it was dead and hollow, as is a phantom's heart. 'It is... It is here...'  
  
Shiara's heart skipped a beat, though she knew not why. Indeed, she did not know what the "it" her young friend was referring to was. Her voice was slightly hesitant:   
  
'What... Of what do you speak...?'  
  
Then, Caran did something that nigh all Elves do, yet she herself had never been known to do, but, as was discovered by Shiara alone that very eve, she was quite skilled at:  
  
She began to sing. A haunting, liting melody that made Shiara shiver and wish that someone(though she would never admit whom) was there to hold her, tightly...:  
  
_'I ride the darkness far and wide  
  
'Twixt Iron Hills and Hell,   
  
'In its secrecy I doth confide,  
  
'As I tread mine crimson trail.  
  
'I hath witnessed bloodshed 'long the way  
  
'Not seen by tenscore Men,  
  
'Few Dwarves nor Eves can e'er say   
  
'They hath gazed at Death - The Beast of Rhen!   
  
'Eyes, burning ice, melting through, thine very wretched soul,  
  
'Silken threads wrap 'round thine head   
  
'Tis doom! They take their toll!   
  
'To leave that corpse-strewn path I walk   
  
'In echoes of the damned,  
  
'Yet knowing this be empty talk,  
  
'Alas! Doomed as is a Man!   
  
'T'were I could escape mine fate   
  
'Live ten thousand years again,  
  
'I should further curse, yet further hunt,  
  
'Kins' Doom! The Beast of Rhen!'  
  
_Caran continued to stare out the window, looking far too old, too tired, than was to Shiara's liking. The Elf-maiden's lip quivered at the child's words; So many questions! The wretched song was not something the girl could have written, and certainly not something she could have experienced first-hand... Could it have been?   
  
Shakily, Shiara's fair lips began to form words of question when Caran's small form suddenly collapsed against the windowsill, pale arms hanging out into the night air, defeaning silence.   
  
A Warg howled in the distance.  
  
'Caran?!' Shiara rushed to the Elf-child's side.   
  
Then, an Orc's cry echoing across the woodlands...   
  
'Caran!' Shiara shouted. Then, quickly, she called out. 'Make haste, help! Caran, Caran Elenath has fainted! Galier, Brother Linel, help! Help us!'  
  
She cried out in desperation, her normally-adept mind not knowing what to do. 'LEGOLAS!!!'  
  
~*~  
  
Legolas had arrived nigh-instantly at the maiden's cry, dashing up the curving stone stairway with feathery strides, carried in the wind, yet lighting, as quick as if attatched to an arrow. Linel and Galier were not far behind, the latter's dislike for the child overweighed by his respect for life -and that the Elven-guard did not, in truth, actually _hate_ Caran either.  
  
'Sister!' Linel exclaimed, worry etched upon his face. 'What troubles thee and yo -Caran!'   
  
Caran was lying limply on the floor, lips slightly parted, hand outstretched, curling and uncurling, its twitching the only movement Caran now made. Legolas swallowed as he moved to Shiara's side, putting a hand on her shoulder as he reached down to touch the child's forehead with the other. 

'Tis warm,' he whispered. The other Elves' eyes widened -it was extremely odd for an Elf to be beset with any sort of sickness, immortal as they were. Galier was the first to recollect his wits. 

'Well then, take her to the healer!' There was a pause; Galier Crossback then grew angry. 'Fools! Make haste! We have all of eternity, mayhap, but she does not! Haste, haste!'  
  
Linel nodded, quickly picking up the small girl in his arms and starting his way down the stairs, almost as quickly as his prince had come. Then, suddenly, his hair a-whirl behind him, he snapped his neck back to look at his adopted sister. 

'Shiara! Tell Legolas and Galier all that you know, all that you've heard, if anything at all! Prithee, make haste in doing so, lest all be lost for a young life!' 

  
~*~ 

'The Beast of Rhen?' 

The King Thranduil raised an eyebrow at his son, sitting back slightly in his lush throne, holding the carved wood stave that signified his rank in his right hand, an immensely regal and powerful air about his intimidating-looking figure, despite smelling slightly of pastie. 

'Aye Father,' Legolas replied, pacing a bit around the room. 'Shiara spoke to me of it, that Young Caran began to sing a rather hellish tune...' The prince bit his lip worriedly. 'It disturbed her...' 

The king smiled slightly despite himself at his son's reaction. 'Hm, I am not...sure...if I hath heard of this... "Beast of..' His voice ran thin as a river trickling to a stream, then fell silent.   
  
Legolas' ears twitched slightly. 'Father...?' 

Thranduil sighed. 'Legolas... My son, Laeglass...' His deep eyes stared at the ground for but a moment, yet Legolas knew -something was greatly amiss. 'The Beast of Rhen...' 

The King of Northern Mirkwood cleared his throat and began a tale, during which Prince Legolas Greenleaf, son of King Thranduil, found his gray eyes, like the stormy seas, growing steadily; Wider and wider... 

'The Beast of Rhen is the creature who is, in fact, responsible for the deaths of the parents of Caran Elenath, as well as several other Elves on that fated eve...And long since before that! Alas! If only we had been able to contain it! Prithee listen, my child: The Beast of Rhen be _not_ an Orc... The beast be a spider!' 

  
_Can we not easily dispatch Spiders?_ Legolas' eyes asked. Thranduil shook his head, eyebrows arching, expelling a deep sigh. 

'It is no ordinary beast, my son. It can control the foul minds of the Orcs, make them do what it will! And, once, every few centuries, it commands an army of them to attack this very place... Thankfully, its killings had ceased for nigh a thousand years, before the last attack which robbed Caran of her family, and we had prayed the creature had at last been slain. Nay! Twas not to be! For it returned, as you know, as you remember...' His voice quivered slightly. 

'Father...' Legolas began slowly. 'Be there... Be there a way to slay this monstrosity?!' 

Again, a melancholy smile passed over the king's lips, wistful. 'Thou hast come to love Caran Elenath dearly, as if she were thine kin, thine own sister.. And thine people, for thou knowest what this creature of Rhen shall do if it goes unstopped... There _may_ be a way to destory it, Legolas, _may _be a way to bring forth the Sun again, if only a mite, on the darkened lands of Mirkwood!' His voice hardened. 'But harken to mine words: Only_ may_! To find the Sun to save the lives of Elves to come, if it indeed does exist, thou wouldst have to stand inches before the creature itself, and even if thou didst manage to find the spot on the creature's body, the Mark of Rhen... To get that close wouldst surely spell thine death.' 

There was a brief silence, the sound of water dripping onto the marble floor a few rooms down embedding into the two 

Elves' minds, as the tension began to choke them as if a heavy cloak. 

'LEGOLAS!' 

'Oomph!'  
  
Legolas found himself holding the tiny Caran in his arms; She was beaming, quite well, the laughter of Linel and Shiara and the cries of Galiel echoing behind her. 

'I toldst thee she wouldst be fine!' Galiel fairly spat. Linel cuffed him lightly. 

'Come now, have a heart mine dear friend, she is well; Be at peace!' 

Galiel scowled, then, to many's surprise, broke into a grin. 'Aye, then at peace I be, nin mellon!' 

Legolas suddenly frowned at Caran, heart slightly a-panic. 'Young friend... How long hast thou been standing there?'   
  
Caran blinked in mild confusion. 

'Standing, thou sayest? Be at peace! I hath only just arrived, come from the unbearable confines of the infirmary!' She wrinkled her nose in distaste, then continued to smile, and then, noticed the king. Quickly, she scrambled behind the prince's back, clinging to his shoulder as if some sort of raccoon, taking nervous glimpses at the monarch through brown locks covering her eyes. The three friends of the prince chuckled softly, and Legolas himself grinned. 

'Well,' said King Thranduil, gathering his robes about him, 'I shalt best be off now. Cuio mae!' 

He left the room briskly, rowan door thundering closed behind him. Caran waiteed until his footsteps were quite faint, even to her own Elven ears, before adding, 'Cuio mae, King Thranduil, Lord of the Pasties!' 

~*~ 

  
In a room where the senses ceased to be of any use -utter darkness, utter silence, utter staleness, utter coldness, and utter dryness- there lay an Elven girl upon a soft bed, her eyes staring upward at the nothing in her view. 

__

The Mark of Rhen... 

  
Slowly, she stood up, glancing about at nothing at all, carefully, before walking toward a cupboard, a cupboard she knew was there by herat alone, and opening it slowly, silently. 

Her small fingers easily found the expertly-crafted bow, the quiver full of arrows. Admiring the craftsmanship, she ran her index finger along the wood... She then slipped a long bowknife into her belt, for indeed, she had gone to bed fully clothed. From her pocket she draw a scrap of parchment and a quill, and quickly, she scrawled a message upon it. 

The child then jumped from the window without the wind even whispering by her garments, leaving no sign of her e'er having been there, save for slightly-rumpled sheets, and a note, fluttering upon the table. 

**__**

'Farethee well, mine dearest friends. Forever I am sorry for the troubles I have caused thee. But fear not! For at last, I shall be at my peace!  
I go to find the Sun!' 


	3. Death ~ To Face The Fate One Carves With...

**__**

The Tale of Caran Elenath  
  
~**Part Three~  
  
**'Legolas! LEGOLAS!'   
  
The Elven Prince opened his eyes slowly, the hazy form of ...Galier? Nay, Linel, the hazy form of Linel looming over him. Elsewhere, his keen ears detected movement, the shuffling of feet, seemingly frantic. 

'What... What ails thee, Linel...?'

The slightly shorter Elf yanked on Legolas' hand with an urgency about him, hauling him roughly out of bed. 

'Cara-' 

'Caran has vanished!' Shiara shouted, thrusting her head, raven locks swirling about her, through Legolas' door. The prince's eyes widened in disbelief, horror. 

'She has WHAT?!' Linel clamped a hand over Legolas' mouth. 

'Prithee, whouldst thou not wake the entire kingdom, _Prince_ Legolas Greenleaf?!' Legolas was about to reply when any sound he could have possibly made was drowned out by a deafening peal of thunder. 

'Well,' Galier muttered, trudging into the room, filling a large burlap sack with various supplies from across the prince's quarters, 'whomever that idiot has not awoken with his foolish cries is most likely up and about by now!' Legolas, however, was not listening to his friend. Instead, his eyes gazed, trance-like, out of the carved-out window, watching the rain pour down in sheets and the thunder rip across the sky like eagles' talons. 

'Dost thou know where she hath gone to?' He whispered. Shiara shook her head. 

'A note... She wrote of... "Finding the sun"...'

Legolas whirled about, snatching up the parchment in question, eyes widening as he read the script upon it. 

'No...' 

His three companions gazed upon him, none daring to say a word, knowing that their prince -their friend- was deep in thought, and worried... 

Quite worried. 

'Mine friends...' Legolas began in a quivering voice. 'Mine friends... We must fetch Caran Elenath...' 

His storm-gray eyes darkened. 

'Quickly!' 

~*~  
  
It was not as if Caran Elenath was scared -nay, she was in fact far from fear in any form. Her task was merely difficult, plowing through the mists of Mirkwood at the very hour of beasts, through deafening rainfall, difficult for even an Elf such as herself. The crystal water droplets clung to her face, and yet, her eyes burned on, and she felt in her heart that her eyes would burn forward forever. 

She could smell it... The dust and decay that hung about the air wherever the vile creature walked.... Caran's Elvish ears picked footsteps far, far in the distance, and cries; But she knew they would never reach her. 

The tiny child's eyes again shone with that bloodlust, and she began to sing softly: 

  
_'I was born unafraid,_   
_'For I was born free,_   
_'And I was born knowing freedom laid,_   
_'Far across the Sea._   
_'And now is mine time to give up immortality,_   
_'Not for love alas but for the chance for others to be free._   
_'Oh! Adan Elenath!   
'Bless upon me the soothing wave_   
_'Of the mother sea to envelope me_   
_'As I approach the mortals' grave!'_   
  
Presently, Caran stopped, the leaves crunching beneath her boot as she quickly pivoted, and she found herself staring into icy eyes.   
  
Eight aqua eyes, nigh-glowing, bore into her flesh. From hairy mandibles, saliva, foam, and soft clicking noises were set upon her, perhaps a mere foot from her face. Eight great hairy legs clicked them selves about her, tapping out their own melody, as if her doom. 

And then, Caran Elenath, Daughter of No One, saw it: A pale peach on the belly of the gigantic creature, almost calling to her. 

'The Mark of Rhen..." She whispered slowly as she drew forth from her belt the glistening bowknife. The clicking intensified, _What do you do child? What do you do?_

'Foul Beast of Rhen!' Caran growled as she took up a stance, the dire mists of Mirkwood now framing her Elven form, 

'Thou shalst come with me to the mortals' Hell!' 

~*~ 

Speeding through the woods as hares being chased by a tenscore Wargs, Galier, Linel, Legolas, and Shiara rushed across the leaves of Mirkwood. It had indeed taken much "persuasion" before the prince would allow the lady to accompany them, but she had insisted that the young Elven girl was as much close to her heart as the girl was to his own. 

That, and the fact that Legolas had no time to argue. 

'Thou shalst come with me to the mortals' Hell!' 

Galier whipped his head about, bellowing to his prince. 'Legolas! Come hither!' 

Legolas bounded toward his friend, the brother and sister close on his heels. Silently, Shiara closed her eyes and offered a silent plea to those far across the Great Sea. 

__

I pray we are not too late. 

~*~  


The bowknife flashed silver in the glinting moonlight and rain; With a cry, Caran drove it toward the Mark of Rhen, but not before a barbed claw could slash across her Elven features, blood seeping down her face. 

Flung backward, the creature lunged toward her; She could feel the saliva from its jaws dripping onto her face, mingling with her blood; A soft hiss emitted as she felt ready to vomit. 

Not wanting to lose her blade, Caran quickly tore an arrow from her quiver and drove it between the mandibles. The Great Spider emitted an unearthly squeal as it reeling backwards; Caran took her chance to grab the knife and strike!  
  
The squeal deepened into a gurgle as blood and puss oozed from the wound. The Beast of Rhen's many eyes began to waver, it hissed, and suddenly, in a mad rage, flung itself upon Caran Elenath. 

The Beast of Rhen was now doomed to die, but it did, in its wicked mind, that it would not go alone into the Underworld. The onslaught Caran faced was one no man alive could have fended off; She struck blindly with her knife as fangs sank into her flesh, claws ripped across her body, and poison slowly filled her veins. Her strikes were becoming less and less fierce as her vision blurred; She did not notice the creature becoming weaker as well. All she saw were the poison-dripping fangs lurching toward her throat.  
  
TWANG!  
  
Shiara's arrow hit true, the center of the creature's horrid head. It fell at last, unable to fight the mortal wound inflicted on the Mark. 

The Beast of Rhen would kill no longer. 

'CARAN!'  
  
Legolas dashed to the bloody heap, lying upon the forest floor, silver glinting upon crimson as Caran's body sagged for breath and the raindrops mercilessly battered against it. Linel and Galier rushed forward; Shiara put a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, pulling back and biting her lip when Caran gave a short cry of pain. 

'Caran...' Legolas said softly. She looked up at him through dilated eyes, and, weakly, gave her her infamous grin, pearly teeth now pink with blood. 

'Brother Laeglas... I killed it! I've brought the sun back upon Mirkwood!' Legolas closed his eyes tightly, willing it all to go away. 

'That you did, brave young one... That you did...'  
  
Galier was crying freely, and growing impatient. 'Shiara, all be damned! DO something for this child!' There was a hiss from his companion. 

'Hold thine tounge, Galier Crossback, Son of Ithilgaer the Flameshot! Can you not see mine sister is as distraught as you are?!' Linel lowered his voice, kneeling next to Caran and searching her eyes, this girl that he loved as his other sister, searching her eyes for that mirthful sparkle. Alas, her eyes were all but dead. 

'Caran...' Shiara said quietly, voice a whisper with the trees and the rainfall. 'Is there... Is there a thing at all that we can do?!'   
  
There was a brief silence, and when it passed, a memory that would remain with the four Elves forever was forged. Caran's eyes became passive, and she sighed wistfully, and her gaze, with what strength she had to alter it, turned to the west. 

'Twould it... Twould it not be a trouble to thee... Mine friends... I should dearly... love to gaze upon the Sea....' 

And so passed the young Elf Caran Elenath, Daughter of No One, known as The Nuisance, The Hero, and The Finder of The Sun. 

~*~ 

__

The body of Caran Elenath was wrapped in the cloak of the prince himself, and placed in a small boat, set afloat upon a river that led to the Great Sea. The Beast of Rhen had been vanquished, for the life of a child never meant to die. Legolas, Shiara, Linel, and Galier remembered Caran and her life forever, and indeed, many say that at times it was the memory of the Elven girl and her sacrifice that pushed the prince onward during the more hopeless times of The War of the Ring, for because of the girl Caran Elenath, all knew that the Sun was indeed in reach for any who sought it. 


	4. Beyond ~ Everything Is Immortal In Memor...

__

Beyond 

King Legolas smiled warmly at the child he held in his arms, cradling her to his chest, his own.  
  
A soft whisper echoed next to him. 

'Well... What shall we name her?' 

Legolass turned his smile toward his wife, then back to the babe, his expression thoughtful.  
  
A sparkle passed in the girl's gray eyes, flecked with emeralds...  
  
The king started, and his eyes began to soften. 'Her name... shall be Caran...'  
  
He then passed the infant to his wife and quickly excused himself for a moment, walking briskly out the door. Down the hallways, just some-  
  
WHAM!  
  
King Leaglass of Eyrn Lasgalen, Master Bowself and member of The Fellowship of the Ring, fell flat upon his royal face upon the stone floor. 

And then came a giggle from somewhere in the halls, echoing throughout the corridors.   
  
A slow smile crossed Legolas' lips.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
_Caran Elenath means "Red Heavens." If you know Japanese, this is also what Akai Kuu means. I was translating random stuff into Elvish, and, when I got to my own penname, I thought it sounded nice for a character._

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Laeglass is Legolas' proper Elvish name. It means, if you couldn't guess, Greenleaf. 

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"Cuio mae" means "live well." 

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Suliad meens "hello" or "greetings."  
  
"Mellon" means " friend." "Mellonath" is the plural form, meaning "friends." 

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Eryn Lasgalen is what Mirkwood was renamed after The War of the Ring. It means 'Wood of Gren Leaves.' 

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For the significance of wishing to see the Sea and "finding the Sun", read the books. 

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Both songs sung by Caran (c) Me, Inc. (~_^) Rhen does not mean anything, to the best of my knowledge. "Adan" means "father." 

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Special thanks to Purple Mouse, who HTMLed this for me, Volcon of Dragonfire, who allowed me to use Shiara, Linel, and Galier, all her creations from her WONDERFUL story, and all of my friends who reviewed. 

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~Akai Kuu 


End file.
